Use of interimplant displacement to measure mandibular distortion during jaw movements in humans.

It has been reported that the mandibular body and the dental arch distort during jaw movements because of contraction of the jaw muscles. In the present study the relative position between two biointegrated implants approx. 10 mm apart was measured during maximum opening and protrusive movements of the jaw using a magnetic sensor system. Mandibular distortion was evaluated as the change in the sensor signal. In all participants the distal implant deviated to the lingual side relative to the mesial implant and the deviation with jaw protrusion was larger than that with opening movement. The linear displacement of the two implants ranged from 8 to 25 microns during maximum opening and from 10 to 37 microns during jaw protrusion. Further investigation is required to establish the mechanism of this mandibular distortion, which may be of relevance to implant therapy.